The piste by pedal power

Skiing’s so conventional. For the latest Alpine thrill, you need wheels. We saddle up

Let us consider an altitude of 10,000ft in terms we might better envision.
Give or take a few feet, it would take 10 Shards to equal that height. The
tallest building on Earth, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, would need to
triple-stack itself. Now consider something else: taking a bicycle almost
10,000ft up a snowy mountain then riding it down a ski slope. Who’s in?

Just me, then. MTB on Snow, as it’s known, pits man and mountain bike against
gravity and vertiginous inclines that prompt avalanche-baiting expletives
from anyone idiotic enough to attempt it. Cue my arrival in Europe’s highest
ski resort, Val Thorens, in the French Alps, one of the few places to offer
the experience.

At 5pm, when the pistes close to ski and snowboard traffic, those craving a
final shot of adrenaline can head to the Funitel Péclet lift. The
instructor, Gérald Bigot, will greet you